HOOVER, Alabama – Medical West, an affiliate of the UAB Health System, plans to break ground this morning on the state's first free-standing emergency department in Hoover.

The Bessemer-based hospital is building a $13.5 million emergency care center at the southwest corner of Interstate 459 and John Hawkins Parkway.

The 24,342-square-foot emergency center will include 10 exam rooms (including two trauma rooms) and CT, X-ray, ultrasound, EKG and other diagnostic and lab equipment.

It will be a Level 3 trauma center, which is equivalent to any hospital emergency room in the Birmingham metro area except UAB Hospital, which is a Level 1 trauma center, said Keith Pennington, CEO and president of Medical West.

"It is exactly as if we pulled our ER from the hospital and we put it out in Hoover," Pennington said.

Proposed layout for The Crossings of Hoover development at the intersection of Interstate 459 and John Hawkins Parkway in Hoover, Ala. Medical West's free-standing emergency department is shown at the bottom right of the layout. (Layout by GBT Realty)

It's an important development for the state of Alabama because it will be the state's first free-standing emergency department, bringing high-quality emergency medical care closer to people without having to build an entire hospital, Pennington said.

Hoover, the only city in Alabama with more than 60,000 people but no hospital in its city limits, is a very large, growing community without timely access to emergency care, Pennington said. "If an emergency arises, time is of the essence," he said.

The Baptist Health System, which already has a primary care clinic and comprehensive diagnostic center in a 50,000-square-foot building near the interchange, still is reviewing its options for its property there, said Ross Mitchell, Baptist's vice president for external and governmental affairs. It has until July 2015 to obligate itself to build a free-standing emergency department or lose its Certificate of Need, Mitchell said.

"The design team and construction team are all doing their preliminary work and pre-construction work," said Stephen Preston, Brookwood's vice president for external affairs. "We should be under way very soon ... We're excited about it. We're really, really close."

Brookwood hopes to have its free-standing emergency room open by the summer of 2015, Preston said.

Medical West is planning to beat Brookwood to the punch. The projected opening date for Medical West's emergency department in Hoover is spring 2015.

Medical West expects to treat 40 to 50 patients a day, or 12,000 to 15,000 patients a year, at its Hoover stand-alone emergency room, Pennington said. Any patients in need of invasive surgery or hospitalization will be stabilized at the Hoover site and then taken to a hospital by ambulance, Pennington said.

The Medical West ER will have a heliport for helicopter transportation for patients with more severe injuries, he said.

More than likely, patients from there will go to Medical West in Bessemer, "but it's always the patient's choice first," Pennington said.

The stand-alone ER was designed by Sims Architectural Studio Inc. and will be built by Brasfield & Gorrie, which already has built free-standing ERs in other states.

Medical Properties Trust is providing financing for the facility, and Harbert Realty Services is serving as the site developer.